Finding Happiness
by SecondSunrise
Summary: Life's never easy. Both Seth and Jamie know that by heart as each of them lost so much along the way of growing up. Father, sister, love, happiness. But what happens when destiny gives them the ultimate oppurtunity to gain something they never expecte
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is chapter one of the new 'Seth's Soulmate'! I re-wrote it and changed some stuff, so now I'm happy with it! I'm sorry it took so long, but I just didn't get around to do anything, I'm so sorry! Anyway, here it FINALLY is! **

**This is dedicated to my dear Team Edcob 4 Life, because I promised her to rewrite the whole thing! I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twlight and it's characters. :( The only thing I own here is Jamie!  
**

Not having imprinted yet sucked. It's not like I was really wanting it, I just wanted company. Because that's something I didn't get that much these days. Most of the boys had imprinted and now they mostly spent time with their girlfriends, or in Sam's case _fiancé. _There was no room for old, boring Seth anymore, no room to hang out with your once best friend. Sure, I talked to everyone regularly, mostly during patrol or school, but even then their minds were occupied. It was as if no one really listened to me anymore. I was alone and I hated it.

So it was only natural for the new, depressed me to walk through school with slumped shoulders, wearing an almost permanent frown. First everyone had asked if I was alright. _Sure,_ I'd said, shrugging it off, even though I'd been and still was everything but that. After a few months people had stopped asking and caring, though. Even the pack hardly asked anymore. I knew they still cared. I could tell that much, but they'd asked so many times and I'd never given them proper answers. So they simply didn't ask anymore.

I sighed as I tried to open my locker. Great, it stuck again. With one hard hit it was open--- and had a huge dent in it. Oops. Looking around to make sure no one was watching it I pushed the dent out from the inside. It wasn't normal for humans to be able to do that. With a grunt I grabbed my books and continued walking to my first class.

I raised my head and looked at the other students. Jealousy swept through me as I looked at their happy faces. How could they be so happy? It was cruel, really. I knew a lot of things about some of these guys and believe me... They weren't that good. But I had always been a good kid. I'd always been kind to everyone, even to vampires who were supposed to be our enemies. I didn't deserve this. Maybe I should try to find new friends, or start to hang out with the ones I'd had before joining the pack. Man, I hadn't talked to Jeremy for a long, long time now. If I remembered right, it had been two years. We'd been best friends before I transformed for the first time, but after that Sam had told me to stop contacting him because apparently it was too dangerous for him. I'd understood, of course, because being a short-tempered wolf hadn't been easy and Jer and I had tended to bite each other's heads off pretty often. I never wanted to hurt him, so I had decided to stay away from my best friend. But even after a few months, when I had gotten a better control of phasing I'd never attempted to talk to him again. I mean, I'd had Jake and the rest of the guys then, there had been no need for another friend. But now I realized how wrong and stupid that had been.

I was going to talk to him today, I decided.

Walking into the classroom I slumped down onto my seat and doodled on my notepad. Then inspiration hit me and I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw. I didn't think about what I was drawing, neither did I notice, I just let my mind go out and lead my hands. My hands practically flew over the page as I sketched. After a while I was done and looked at the picture. It was a wolf - me, to be exact - on a beautiful cliff. His head was bowed as he just stood there. It was kind of depressing to look at, but I still liked it.

"Good morning boys and girls," Bella exclaimed happily as she literally danced into the classroom. Oh yeah, she was teaching English at La Push High now. A few months after Renesmee's birth she'd decided to take online classes for teaching. After a few months she was done and had a A+ diploma in her pocket. And a price for finishing the classes the fastest or something like that. It was cool, really, to have your stepsister teaching you, especially when you were good at the subject. Plus Bella was a really, really good teacher. The whole school loved her. Some of the guys even had crushes on her, which was kind of... disgusting. I mean, she was my friggin' stepsister and I had to listen to guys telling their friends how 'sexy' she was! Too bad they didn't know what she really was. A vampire. Ha, they would run away, screaming.

"So, guys. We have a new student," Bella announced, always a smile in her voice. "Her name is Jamie Grey and she just moved here. Please be nice to her. Oh, and Seth?" I looked up questioningly. "Would you please show her around school?"

"Sure thing, Bells." I nodded. Then I noticed the girl - Jamie - beside her. She was completely soaked, which was understandable because it was raining buckets outside. Even though her head was held high she still looked a little intimidated. I had to admit she hid her nervousness pretty well. No shaking and sweating. Only her rapid heartbeat gave her away, but only Bella and I could hear that. I wondered if I would be nervous, too if I was new in class. Nah, probably not. You don't get nervous when you faced vampires in a bloody battle before.

I noticed her shirt then and grinned to myself. Fall Out Boy- that girl had a good taste in music. Looking up at her face I noticed her cheeks where really red. She was blushing, how cute. And then, when her gaze met mine, time stopped. It was as if Jamie and I were alone, as if no one else was there. No class mates, no Bella. No one. Except the both of us. I could practically feel my heart swell and the strings of gravity that had tied me to earth loosen themselves to reconnect with her body. The pull towards Jamie was incredible. Struggling not to just give in to it, I clenched every muscle in my body, because I wanted to get up and hold her _so badly_ it almost hurt. Even though my mind was pretty jumbled I knew I couldn't, it would scare her away and that was the least thing I wanted. Every sound was muted, it was as if my ears were stuffed with cotton or something. The only thing I could hear was her frantic heartbeat increase even more and her hitched breathing. And the only thing I could see was her gorgeous face with those mesmerizing wide, green eyes. All I could do was stare at her, my mouth slightly open in amazement.

"Jamie?" Bella's voice yanked me out of the stupor, but I still didn't look away. Jamie did, though. My heart wrenched as she tore her gaze away from mine to look at our teacher.

"Yes, Mrs. Cullen?", she asked politely , sounding a little breathless. Her voice was simply beautiful.

Bella stared at her for a second, then at me, understanding lightening up her face. "Oh, please call me Bella. I feel so old when you call me Mrs. You can sit down now. Here, next to Seth." She smiled brightly at Jamie.

"But I sit-", the guy next to me protested, but got cut off by Bella.

"Jordan, take the seat in the last row, please." I could almost see her smiling at him to shut him up. Needless to say it worked. With a grunt the guy grabbed his stuff and changed his seat. I didn't see any of that, tough. I was still staring at Jamie, who was staring back. Her heart raced in her chest and she seemed to have trouble with breathing, but I thought I knew why. I felt exactly the same.

"You imprinted!" Bella gushed so fast and quietly that nobody else even knew she was talking.

I couldn't help but let an idiotic grin spread over my whole face as I briefly looked at her. It finally happened! "Yeah," I whispered back, the grin expanding even more. I turned around to face Jamie. I felt the smile slip away and get replaced by a look of awe as I gazed at her. She was so beautiful. Jamie must've noticed me staring at her, because suddenly she turned around to look at me. First she was, just staring, much like I was, but then she gave me a hesitant smile, showing her straight, white and perfect teeth. My breathing hitched.

"Hey," I breathed, the look of awe still on my face.

"Hey," she replied softly, brushing away a strand of jet black hair that hung into her face. "I'm Seth." My voice was getting stronger now, but it still had this amazed tone. I didn't think it would go away any time soon.

"I know." Her response sent shivers down my spine and made my belly tingle. She knew who I was! A tiny voice in my head reminded me that Bella had just told her my name, but I ignored it, continuing to stare at Jamie.

I don't know how long we just stared at each other, but after a while she let her gaze drop to my desk. Her eyes went wide as she sight of…Err, whatever she was looking at. I didn't look at it, tough, but kept eyes locked on her gorgeous face. I never wanted to look away, scared that she would just vanish if I did.

"This is beautiful." Her voice was just a quiet murmur and soft as a feather. It literally took my breath away.

I blinked, trying to focus, because she looked so interested. "I know." My words weren't meant for the drawing on my desk – I had barely glanced at it –, but for her. Jamie looked up and blushed as she notices me staring at her again.

"You're very talented," she said quietly, her eyes drifting to my drawing again. Brushing her fingers over the wolf's body she continued to whisper. "Why is it so sad and alone? Aren't wolves supposed to be in a pack?"

A brief flash of pain crossed my face as I remembered my former situation, but she gladly didn't see it. "I've been having a hard time lately and I kinda tend to let my mood flow into my drawings." My response was automatic, even though I'd never wanted to talk about it before. But it was _her _asking me, I had to answer. And I wanted to.

She narrowed her eyes a little bit and pulled her hand back, resting it on her desk. The urge to reach out and take it was so strong that I had to grip my desk to smother it, but yet I couldn't help but brush away the strand of hair that hung into her face again. Needless to say I blushed like an idiot.

Jamie's face reddened, too, but she still smiled at me and whispered a 'thanks'.

For the rest of the class neither of us spoke, trying to focus on what Bella wanted to teach us. For me it didn't work - I was too distracted by Jamie's presence, I had to keep staring at her. I simply _had _to. From time to time she looked at me, too, and every time she did, she blushed and looked away again.

"I want you to write an essay on any topic you like. It can be about your favorite book, your dog or you can just make something up; I don't care. Just be creative!", Bella said, dismissing us five minutes earlier.

My gaze still fixed on Jamie, I packed my stuff and waited for her to get up. When she started to walk she tripped over something and dropped her books, but before they hit the ground I caught them and handed them to her with a smile.

She looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "how did you do that?"

"What, no thanks?", I gasped dramatically, pretending to be offended.

Jamie rolled her eyes at my antics. "Thanks," she grinned, letting the subject drop.

I smiled back and reached for her bag. "Let me carry them for you."

First it seemed as if she wanted to decline, but when she saw the look in my eyes she just shook her head and continued walking.

"So," I began, but then stopped. Jamie had just looked up at me with her gorgeous eyes, that stunned me into silence. I completely forgot what I had wanted to say.

"So?", she repeated, seeming pretty dazed, too.

I swallowed before answering with a shaky voice, "what's your next class?"

Her eyebrows scrunched together in the cutest way as she tried to remember. Then she sighed. "I honestly have no idea. I mean, I would look, but since you have my bag..."

"Oh," I said dumbly, handing her bag to her. She took it with a smile and rummaged through it until she found an already worn-out piece of paper.

"Ugh," she groaned as she read, making a face. "Math's my next subject."

I groaned, too, and felt my face fall. "Mine's gym. Hey, can I look at your schedule? You know, so I can compare it to mine."

When she nodded, I took it and grinned. We had every subject - except Math and gym - together! She seemed to be happy about it, too, when I told her.

"I'll see you later?", she asked sadly, her gorgeous face pulled into a frown.

I nodded and gave her a quick hug before heading to my next class. Looking back over my shoulder I noticed that she was still standing in the middle of the hallway, her eyes wide and her cheeks red. With a satisfied smile I walked around the corner, her face all over my mind.

**Jess (me): Please review? *puppy eyes* Shi--- shoot, doesn't work. Seth? SETH! **

**Seth: Yeah? **

**Jess: My puppy eyes don't work. You have to use yours to make them review! **

**Seth: Okaaaaaay? **

**Jess: No questions, just do it! **

**Seth: *puppy eyes* Please review? **

**Jess and aaaaaaaaaaall the readers: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! **

**Readers: *review* **

**Jess: *pats Seth* Nice dog - err, boy. **

**Seth: Don't call me dog! *evil voice* **

**Jess: Watch your tongue or I'm gonna make you dye your hear pink. **

**Seth: You can't do that!**

**Jess: Wanna bet? **

**Seth: Nah... *grumbles and leaves***

**Jess: I love you, too, Seth!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**FINALLY the second chapter! And WOW that thing was a pain in the ass to write! I _hate _rewriting stuff (kinda ironic, don't ya think?) because I get bored so easily while doing it, so writing the same situation _again_ really bored the crap outta me. Anyway, I did it and I'm glad it's finally over. And this will officially be the LAST chapter repeating a former situation from a different POV. Next time I'll just continue where the last chapter stopped. I mean, I - and hopefully you- got what I/we wanted... Jamie's first day of school up to a certain point. I could've continued this chapter, but I think 4.500 words are more than enough. **

**Dedication: ****Team Edcob 4 Life (This is the last time I'll write this, just consider yourself a permanent dedication, okay?), who's actually my new beta.. And I'm sorry I didn't send it to you before posting it, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I promise that I'll send you the third chapter before posting it! Pinky promise! Thank you so much for always encouraging me to continue!  
**

**Second dedication: This goes out to aaaaaaaaaaaaall those people (not that many, but whatever) who read this and my other stories. I know you probably hate me by now because I'm not updating that often anymore, but I just can't. School really gets to me, my grades suck, I'm to lazy to study and to write. Sorry! Lucky for you I've been sick the past few days, so I had loads of time!  
**

**And the final dedication: To Tabi, a great friend of mine, who's always supporting me in everything I do! She's one of the nicest persons I know and she's just like a sister to me. We're so alike, it's creepy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and it's characters, they all belong to Stephenie Meyer! The only thing I own here are the characters you don't recognize... Like Jamie, Lindsey, her Mom... Etc. **

**So, here it iiiiiiiiiis! Read & Review!  
**

I awoke with a start, my forehead damp with sweat and my heart pounding rapidly in my chest. Curling myself into a ball, I tried to shake off the repeating nightmare I'd just had. As usual, the effort was useless. I knew I had to face the memories again, but I wanted to put it off as long as possible and didn't allow myself to cry for about half an hour.

Taking a steadying breath, I let all the walls I'd built around the dreaded memories crumble to dust and recalled what had happened two months ago.

_"Mom!", Lindsey yelled from the garage, her voice already starting to get whiney. _

_"I'm coming, honey," my Mom called back, taking off her gardeners gloves, and headed towards the extra building next to our house were the cars and bikes were. _

_A few minutes later she came back out and sighed, rubbing her forehead. _

_"What did she want?", I asked while plowing the flowerbed where my StarGazer Lilies were supposed to grow later. _

_Mom sighed again, "She didn't remember where she put her rollerblades." _

_I giggled softly, that was so Lindsey. I exactly remembered watching her put them on the top-shelf , right beside mine, just yesterday. But Lindsey was so forgetful... Well, let's say she would forget her head if it weren't screwed on. _

_"Jamie!", she yelled then, hopping out of the garage on one leg because the other one already wore a rollerblade. "You coming or what?" _

_I groaned, "Do I really have to? My muscles are still sore from yesterday." _

_"Stop complaining," she ordered, chucking a hand full of dirt at me. _

_I sneezed three times in a row, an aftereffect of getting dirt in my nose, making her laugh out loud. _

_"Payback's a bitch, Linds!", I yelled and quickly got up to leap at her. _

_Lindsey shrieked loudly and tried to run away, but her one rollerblade slowed her down, so she kicked it off and bolted, wearing only one shoe. _

_Just when she was about to cross the street in front of our house I saw a car approaching at full speed and yelled a warning. "Lindsey, watch out!", I called, frantically waving at her. She only snorted, believing I wanted to trick her into slowing down and continued crossing the street, still laughing. _

_The doctor later told us that she'd died the second the car crashed into her and that this was the reason for the bright smile on my dead sister's face. She hadn't even noticed anything. It went just like that... One second she was laughing and then, BAM, she was dead, the smile still on her face, engraved there for eternity. _

"Lindsey," I whimpered and traced the bracelet we had bought together on our trip to Europe with my parents, almost ten years ago. She was wearing hers, too. I'd made sure they wouldn't take it away before burying her. Tears were streaming down my face as I tried to pull myself together. I didn't succeed. After a few minutes the sobs ragging through my body grew so loud that I had to press a pillow onto my face to stifle the noise. I didn't want my parents to hear me.

Sitting up to pulls my knees up to my chest, I hoped the pain would subside, that the hole in there would just _heal. _As usual, it didn't.

Sometimes, when I close my eyes it's like she's there, beside me, still alive. It's like I can feel her presence and then, I am completely at ease. Then it's like the hole in my chest never even existed in the first place. In those rare moments I always live in my own, personal and _mute_ bubble. No sounds come in, no feelings, no smells. Nothing but Lindsey's presence and her sweet, floral scent. But after a few minutes the sounds of the world around me, the sounds of _reality _burst through my bubble and the moment is gone, leaving me to fall apart.

I seriously considered to just stay in bed and try to sleep for another while, but, despite the despair I felt inside of me, I knew I had responsibilities to care about. Like school.

With a soft sigh I got up and headed into the bathroom to take a shower.

The water pouring out of the showerhead was too hot, burning my skin, yet I enjoyed it. It soothed the pain inside of me, made me feel better. _It's gonna be alright_, a little voice in my head whispered as I motionlessly stood, eyes closed, at peace.

"Good morning, Mom," I said quietly as I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching her cook breakfast.

She turned to me and gave me an exhausted nod, not saying a word. As usual.

A moment later she placed a plate of pancakes in front of me and sat down herself, sipping on a cup of coffee.

I picked up my fork and started cut them into pieces, so that Mom wouldn't notice me not eating. I hadn't been really hungry ever since.... The incident. Forcing the thought out of my mind, I swallowed a tiny bit of pancake and immediately felt sick. For Mom's sake I pretended to eat for another five minutes and then got up to dump the remains into the trashcan and the now empty plate into the sink.

Turning to lean against the counter, I looked at Mom. She looked exhausted, to say the least. The brightness in her eyes was gone, replaced by a heart wrenching dullness. Another thing that had changed over the last two months was, well, actually her whole appearance. Once she'd moved with pride and grace, but now her shoulders were hunched and she kept looking at the floor, as if she didn't want people to see her face. Her hair hadn't seen a hairdresser for a while now and she only wore it in a loose and messy ponytail these days. She didn't care about her clothes anymore, either . The shirt she was wearing was stained and she simply looked lost in it because it was so big.

What had changed the most though was Mom herself. Her personality was so different to what it had been before. It wasn't _her _anymore. She'd been an outgoing and always smiling and talking person, but now she didn't go out, she didn't smile and she didn't _talk _anymore. The last thing I'd heard her say was my sister's name, two months ago.

I looked around our new house and sighed. Even though we'd moved in yesterday, all the moving boxes, except the ones in my room, that is, where empty and stacked in the guest room. Mom had probably spent the whole night up to unpack everything. It was so _Mom _to do that. Ever since the incident she'd spent every awake minute doing something to distract herself. Cleaning the house, doing the dishes, rearranging the rooms.. Everything not to think of what had happened.

After a concerned glance at my mother I left the kitchen and went into the bathroom to get ready for school. Suppressing an annoyed groan, I tried to smooth my messy, black hair but gave up after a moment. It continued sticking out in random places anyway. I applied some make-up and concealer to hide the shadows underneath my eyes and left the bathroom to get the stuff I needed for school.

"Mom, I'm leaving for school," I said once I entered the kitchen again, watching her doing the dishes. She held up one hand as if to make me stop and pointed out of the window. I looked out and frowned. There stood a brand new car, glistening in the morning sun. "Whose is this?", I asked, confused.

She pointedly looked at me then and jerked her chin towards something on the table in front of me. I followed her movement and felt my jaw drop.

"It's mine?", I asked incredulously, my gaze flickering between my Mom, the keys on the table and the car. When she nodded I threw myself at her, smothering her in a gigantic hug. She stiffened at the closeness that had become alien to her and I immediately let her go, blushing a bright red.

"Thanks, Mom," I whispered uncomfortably, scratching the back of my neck, blood pulsing rapidly through my veins in humiliation.

She nodded and returned to doing the dishes, again without saying a word. I sighed quietly, worrying for my mother. Was she ever going to get better? I didn't know.

Grabbing the keys, I left the house and pretended not to notice the empty spot where _her _Jacket had always hung, where _her _shoes had always stood. I also pretended I didn't feel her right beside me.

The drive to the school was only five short minutes long and I briefly wondered if the short distance was even worth the gas I'd use every day, quickly dismissing the thought of just walking to school as it started to rain. Well, more like raining buckets.

"Nooo," I groaned, covering my face with my hands, and hoped that the rain would stop in the next five minutes. Needless to say it didn't.

So I took my bag and all but jumped out of the car to run towards what I thought was the registry. Despite my effort to run as fast as I could and the fact that I held my bag over my head to shield myself from as much of the rain as possible, I was soaked after the first few steps.

The woman behind the desk eyed me maliciously, as if I was invading her personal bubble by simply entering the registry. Her face grew outrages as she noticed the wet and dirty traces I was leaving behind and the pen in her hand snapped because she held it so tightly.

"Hello," I greeted her politely, smile in place, even though all I wanted to do was to run away to cower inside my car. "I'm Jamie Gray."

"I know who you are," she snapped in an unpleasant nasal voice, glaring daggers at me, not making any move to get the papers I needed.

After a moment of awkward silence from my side and daggers from hers, I cleared my throat. "I'm the new student," I declared shyly, hoping she would catch the drift, blood rushing up to my cheeks, hands cold and sweaty, clasped in front of me.

"I know." Harsh. That would describe her perfectly. Maybe evil...

"The principal told me to come here to get some papers."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." She was taunting me , I could see and hear that now. Then it clicked. _Oh. _

"Could you please give the papers I need to me?", I asked, polite as ever, hoping my smile was convincing.

"Of course." She handed me a stack of papers right in front of her. The smile on her face was so false that even I could see right through it and it almost made me feel something, maybe anger. Almost.

"Thank you." With that, I was gone, leaving the sneering woman behind me, air rushing out of my lungs, tightness leaving my chest.

Only when someone tapped me on the shoulder I realized I'd been standing in the middle of the hallway for the past... How long exactly? I didn't know.

Turning around, I caught my breath. The woman in front of me was beautiful, more beautiful than any person I'd ever seen in my life. Pale skin, golden eyes, grace, _inhuman_. Those words kept repeating themselves in my head until it spun, out of control.

"Excuse me?" She sounded like an angel with her high, bell-like voice. I wondered what she would sound like while singing. Probably like heaven on earth. She literally took my breath -and my voice- away. When I didn't respond, an insecure expression crossed her face. "You are Jamie Gray, right?"

"Yes," I breathed, not knowing how I'd gotten the word out. "Yes," I repeated dumbly, cheeks red, eyes wide and hands sweaty. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

A dazzling smile spread over her face, making it even more beautiful.

"I'm Bella Cullen, your English teacher. I saw you standing here and wondered if you needed help to find to the class?"

"Yes." My face got redder by the second. "Thank you."

I followed her as she walked away and after a few silent minutes we reached the class. She stopped in front of the door, turning to me, scrutinizing me with her eyes. "You don't have to be nervous, this class is great. Very nice kids. Oh and you don't have to introduce yourself to them, I know how much I hated that when I first moved to Forks."

"Thank you," I breathed. Then I nodded to myself and followed her through the door, keeping as close as possible without invading her personal space.

"Good morning, boys and girls", she sang happily, smiling at the class. All of the students immediately gave her their full attention. All but one guy who was sitting in the front. His shoulders were hunched over a paper on his desk and he didn't even look up to Mrs. Cullen. Our teacher briefly glanced at him, a sad look crossing her face, but didn't say anything. "So, guys. We have a new student Her name is Jamie Gray and she just moved here. Please be nice to her. Oh, and Seth?"

The guy looked up then, eyebrows raised in silent question. I couldn't help but stare at him, heart starting to race, blood rushing to my cheeks. He was drop-dead gorgeous. "Sure thing, Bells," he said in a husky voice that made shivers run down my spine.

Then he looked at me, yet not meeting my eyes. Strangely enough, he seemed to be pleased by what he saw because a grin that took my breath away spread over his face. I was confused, to say the least.

Yet all I could do was stare at him, eyes wide, breathing hitched, heartbeat going faster and faster and faster until it felt as if it was about to burst out of my chest.

"Jamie?" Mrs. Cullen's voice yanked me back to reality and I swayed on my feet a little bit as I turned to her. What had that been?

"Yes, Mrs. Cullen?" My voice sounded breathless, as if I'd used up all the oxygen in my lungs.

Her gaze briefly flickered to Seth and then her face brightened. "Oh, please call me Bella. I feel so old when you call me Mrs. You can sit down now. Here, next to Seth." Her smile was blinding.

My eyes snapped back to Seth and I felt attention slip away. I almost didn't hear the guy next to him protest because Mrs. Cu-, no, Bella had just offered me his seat.

Suddenly I was sitting beside Seth, not remembering how I'd gotten there. My heart was still racing in my chest and I couldn't breathe properly, but, truth be told, I didn't mind. It felt nice. But it also made me self-conscious, so I stared at my desk.

After a moment I realized that Seth was looking at me, so I turned around and met his intense gaze. His face went completely blank as I hesitantly smiled at him.

"Hey," he breathed, eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't quite name... Maybe... amazement?

I softly repeated his word and brushed an annoying strand of hair away.

"I'm Seth." His voice sounded stronger now, but still had a soft tone to it that made me lose my mind.

"I know."

His face lit up like a Christmas Tree at my stupid response and I couldn't help but smile back. Normally I would've felt weird, just staring at some guy I just met, but with Seth... It felt different. Normal.

Still, after a while I let my gaze drop to his desk and my eyes widened. "This is beautiful," I whispered, taking in the drawing on Seth's desk. It showed a lone wolf on a gorgeous cliff, his head bowed in an agonizing way.

"I know," he replied. His answer kind of shocked me, so I glanced up at him, blushing a bright red as I noticed him staring at me. It didn't seem like he'd looked away in the first place.

Involuntarily, my gaze drifted to the drawing again and I couldn't help but brush over the wolf's body. "You're very talented." It was true, I'd never seen such a beautiful drawing before. "Why is it so sad and alone? Aren't wolves supposed to be in a pack?"

Seth replied without missing a beat, "I've been having a hard time lately and I kinda tend to let my mood flow into my drawings." There was an urgency in his voice, as if he had to get it this off his chest.

I pulled my hand back to rest it on my desk, a frown on my face. Seth having a hard time? That didn't seem to fit at all. He just seemed like a naturally warm and sunny person to me. Well, but on the other hand I'd been like that, too.

I kept silent, not knowing how to comfort him even though I wanted to so badly it almost hurt, eyes fixed on Seth's hand that suddenly clenched around the side of his desk. From my peripheral vision I could see his other hand slowly move towards me to brush away the strand of hair that had bothered me before, making my face blush a bright red. I smiled as I saw his face get red and breathed a 'thanks'.

For the rest of the lesson both Seth and I remained silent, yet I couldn't help but sneak glances at him from time to time, always blushing when he was staring back, looking away again.

Five minutes before the bell rang Mrs. Cullen said, "I want you to write an essay on any topic you like. It can be about your favorite book, your dog or you can just make something up; I don't care. Just be creative!"

I took my stuff and got up, aware of Seth's eyes on me, immediately tripping over something. I inwardly groaned and prepared to bend down to get my stuff, but got surprised by Seth catching all of it and handing it to me.

"How did you do that?", I asked, wide-eyed.

Seth gasped for dramatic effect, "What, no thanks?"

Rolling my eyes at him, I decided to let the subject drop. Not everyone's reflexes were as bad as mine. "Thanks," I grinned.

Suddenly Seth reached out and grabbed my bag. "Let me carry it for you."

I was about to decline, but then I saw the puppy-like look in his eyes and handed him the bag, shaking my head before proceeding to walk out the classroom.

"So," he said, making me look up at him. I was immediately caught up in his brown, sincere and for the moment dazed looking eyes.

"So?", I breathed stupidly when he didn't continue to talk.

He swallowed heavily. "What's your next class?"

Good question... Gym? No, that wasn't it... Spanish? No... After a moment I simply gave up trying to remember and waved my hand in his direction, sighing heavily. "I honestly have no idea. I mean, I would look, but since you have my bag..." I let my voice trail off suggestively.

"Oh." With that he handed me my bag and I immediately searched for the paper in it, cursing myself for the mess I'd already made. After a while I found my schedule and groaned. "Ugh. Math's my next subject."

Seth's face fell. "Mine's gym." Then his face suddenly brightened up a bit, as if he'd just gotten an idea. "Hey, can I look at your schedule? You know, so I can compare it to mine."

I nodded. Seth's face totally lit up as he looked at it. "We have every other class together!", he exclaimed happily, giving me a bright, happy smile. I couldn't help but return it. The smile didn't last long, though, because then I remembered I had to get to my next class.

"I'll see you later?", I asked sadly, frowning. Seriously, he was so tall I had to frown _up _at him.

My mind went completely blank as he bent down to hug me before walking away. Blood rushed to my cheeks, coloring them a bright red and my eyes went wide. I couldn't move, even if I wanted to. All I could do was stare after Seth. The last thing I saw was his satisfied smirk, then he was around the corner.

It took me a moment to regain my composure, but when I finally did, I looked at my schedule to find out where I had to go. Room 23. The English room was... Room 20. So the third door next to this, right? Well, no. In the end it turned out that the room was on the other end of the school.

This class was uneventful and boring, mainly because Seth wasn't by my side and I sighed in relief when it was over.

"Hey, you're Jamie, right?", a girl my age with russet skin asked.

"Yes," I replied as I took in her tiny frame that somehow still managed to almost burst with energy.

"I'm Claire," she introduced herself, giving me a energized smile. It was so contagious that I couldn't help but smile back, following her out the classroom while she started to babble about how much she hated Math. I nodded in agreement, searching through my bag to find my schedule. I couldn't believe I couldn't find it. Again. A squeak escaped my lips as I bumped into a solid wall that send me to the ground where I landed flat on my butt. My face burned with humiliation as I stared up at the huge, Native American in front of me who was shaking furiously. "Watch it," he snarled at me, making me cringe.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, completely horrified.

"Paul," Seth's voice was warning as he looked at the guy while bending down to help me up. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief simply because he was here with me. He pushed me behind his back and stepped forward until he was almost chest-to-chest with that Paul guy. Seth was already really tall, but Paul... He was just huge, in every possible way.

"What?," Paul spat in response, still shaking in anger, eyes glazed over.

"Guys," Claire cut in, slapping the both of them across the back of their heads. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at that because she seriously had to jump to reach their heads.

All of them turned to me, eyeing me as if I was crazy. "You should've seen this," I gasped between giggles, wiping the tears of laughter away.

Paul shot me one last dark glare that shut me up immediately before stomping away.

"That was weird," Claire commented lightly, looping her arms through mine and Seth's and lead us towards what I could only suppose was the cafeteria.

"You're seriously eating all of that?", I asked incredulously, eyes wide, as I stared at the huge amount of food in front of Seth.

"I'm a growing boy, I need the food," he winked at me and started to literally inhale his food.

"Wait until the rest of the guys are here," Claire piped up, shoving a fork off spaghetti into her mouth. "Paul eats thrice as much."

"Paul?", I squeaked, my stomach churning in fear. _The _Paul from before? No, she had to mean someone else... What were the chances that there was another Paul at this tiny school?

Zero. I learned that as a huge figure plopped down next to me, scaring me to death by the way. "I'm sorry about before," Paul said, his voice a lot softer than only a few minutes ago. "I was just a little... pissed."

Suddenly he didn't seem so scary anymore. More like a big teddy... I smothered a giggle with taking a bite of the apple in front of me. As usual, it made me feel sick. Before the food decided to make it's way out of my stomach, I searched for something to distract myself.

My gaze landed on Paul's plate and I couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap.... I can see what Claire meant by thrice as much."

"Hey, I don't want to be a broomstick like Seth," he defended himself, shooting Seth a grin that showed he was joking.

"Broomstick isn't exactly the word I'd use," I muttered under my breath, too low for them to hear. Or so I'd thought.

"What would you use then?", Paul grinned cheekily, softly poking me with his elbow. "Sex on legs?"

While I blushed like the idiot I was, Seth chocked on his food and didn't calm down for almost two minutes, effectively saving me from having to answer Paul's question.

"Jamie?", Seth asked softly, his voice sounding a little raw, a concerned look on his face. "Is that all you're gonna eat? You can have my fries, if you want."

I stared at him, wide-eyed. He already noticed? People _never _noticed, not even my parents had. "No, thanks. I'm not really hungry. Had a lot of breakfast," I lied as smoothly as I could, hoping he would believe me. To my relief, he did.

Lunch went by smoothly after that and I eventually came to the conclusion that I liked Claire and Paul a lot because both of them were really nice and funny. About Seth... Let's say I liked him the most.

**I couldn't help myself, I just _had_ to add Paul. I seriously had to. It's an addiction. And yes, it's the Claire. Quil's imprint. I know she's not supposed to be that old, but a toddler's just kinda boring, don't you think? She's around 15, like Seth and Jamie. **

**Anway, hope you liked the chapter.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**I just realized I made a MAJOR (okay it's not that major, but whatever) mistake in Chapter 2... I wrote something along the lines of "the spot where her jacked had hung"... Which is total crap since Jamie's family just moved to La Push, so there's no friggin way Lindsey's jacket hung ANYWHERE in that house. Let's just say that the house has some similarities to their old one, like they hang up their jackets at the same place or whatever. Yeah, that's me making lame excuses. LOL**

**Dedicated to ALL my friends because I just love you guys. 3 **

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me. *sniffles* Song credit goes out to Kaene! **

* * *

_You're aching, you're breaking_  
_And I can see the pain in your eyes_

* * *

Seth was officially the nicest person I'd ever met. For the rest of the day he insisted on carrying my bag and always walked me to class, asking me the most random questions all the time. By the end of the school day he knew absolutely everything about me --- except what happened two months ago. I wasn't ready to talk about it, not yet, and to my relief he didn't push it when he noticed I was uncomfortable with him asking certain questions.  
"We've been talking about me all day," I complained lightly as we walked out of school, Seth still carrying my stuff.  
He shrugged, a grin stretching over his face. "You're much more interesting than I am."  
"I highly doubt that," I muttered, somewhat embarrassed by his comment, and turned my face away so he didn't see the blush on my cheeks.  
"Yes-", he began, but cut off by his cell phone ringing. He sighed exasperatedly and pulled it out. "Yeah?"  
I couldn't hear what the person on the other end said, but judging of Seth's face it wasn't good news. "Do I really have to?"  
Apparently he had to because once he snapped the phone shut -almost breaking it in the process, I might add- he said goodbye to me with a quick hug that left me paralyzed for a short moment -in a good way, of course- and all but ran into the woods, leaving me behind.  
I sighed and made my way towards my car, cringing away from some random dude who came dangerously close to me with his football.  
Just as I was about to get into the car, a soft sniffle alerted me of someone's presence. Claire was sitting on the floor, just around the corner, her back against the wall and her head in her hands.  
"Claire?", I asked quietly, walking over to her and crouching down next to her trembling body.  
She jumped and hectically wiped away the tears, as if she hoped I wouldn't have noticed. "Oh, hey, Jamie," she said in a thick voice, pretending to be happy, a fake smile on her face, while her cheeks were still damp.  
My forehead creased in concern as I looked at her. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying and her make-up was smeared all over her face, but the worst part was the bruise that covered half her cheek. I wondered why I hadn't noticed before. My voice was barely more than a shocked whisper as I spoke. "What happened to you?"  
"Nothing."  
"Claire, your face tells a completely different story."  
"Well, maybe it's lying?", she said lamely and we both burst out laughing at the absurdity of the sentence. The laughter didn't last long though and soon Claire broke down crying again, taking me with her. We sat on the ground for a long time, me whispering soothing words into her ear and rubbing her back while she cried into my shoulder.  
"Do you want to talk about it?", I asked once the sobs had subsided.  
Against my expectations she nodded against my shoulder and began to speak in a shaky voice. "I'm scared to go home," she confessed quietly.  
When I was about to ask why, she kept talking. "My Mom... She-she's an alcoholic and she gets so violent when she's drunk. And today she's probably especially drunk because my Dad left us exactly five years ago. I'm so scared, Jamie."  
"Your mother did this to you?"  
"I don't think she meant to do it, she's out of control when she's drunk," Claire mumbled, defending the woman who hit her.  
I was shocked, to say the least. How could someone do that to sweet, bubbly Claire? Squeezing my eyelids shut tightly, I forced back the tears of sympathy that threatened to spill over. I knew how much I had hated it when people back in Texas had looked at me with all the pity, and I wanted to spare Claire from that.  
"Please don't tell anyone," Claire whispered as she sat up straight and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "They'd freak out so badly."  
"Of course not," I replied softly and reached out to wipe away a smudge of make up under her eye.  
Claire silently got up, brushing the dirt off her clothes, and pulled me up, too.  
The fear was evident in her eyes as she slowly made her way around the corner and onto the parking lot.  
"You can come home with me, if you want," I offered, not knowing whether that was such a good idea, yet hoping it was. Maybe it helped her to see other families had problems as well.  
"If you don't mind, then yes, I'd love to." Her face was lit up like a Christmas tree as she hopped into my car, electing a soft smile from myself.

When we reached my house, I uncomfortably cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment. "I have to warn you... My Mom doesn't talk."  
Instead of asking why, Claire just gave me a reassuring smile and got out of the car, waiting for me to lead the way. She was such a strange kid...  
I couldn't believe I was really doing this. This would surely end in a catastrophe, most likely with my Dad coming home earlier than expected and yelling at me. Shaking that train of thought off, I slowly opened the door and motioned for Claire to walk in first.  
"You have a really pretty house," she said admiringly as she looked around in the hallway. It had changed a lot since I'd left this morning and I could see that pretty much everything was already in it's place, even including my shoes and jackets. Weird.  
"Thanks," I muttered, taking her jacket and hanging it up for her, my face heating up. Even though I knew it was a stupid reaction to a compliment that wasn't even directed at me, but I just couldn't help it. It was my usual reaction to anything compliment-like that was even close to being directed at me or something I owned.  
Suddenly my Mom appeared in the hallway, a lost look on her face, as if she'd been aimlessly wandering around in the house for the past hours. Which was probably the case. When she saw me her face seemed to light up a little bit, but maybe I just started imagining things. Mom's face never lit up anymore.  
Then she noticed Claire beside me, who hadn't even noticed my Mom, and her eyes went wide in shock. She clearly hadn't expected me to make any friends, let alone bring someone home already. Well, actually, neither had I, but here I was, having found three amazing friends already, one of them home with me.  
Which seemed like the worst mistake I could've made as I saw tears form in my mother's eyes before she ran out of the hallway and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.  
Claire turned to me, a shocked expression on her face. I didn't know what to do, or to say, so I just stared back, my eyes wide as well.  
After a while I simply lead Claire into the kitchen, still silent, and began to make us two mugs of hot chocolate.  
"I'm sorry," I finally said as I placed the cup in front of Claire. "My family has been through a lot lately and Mom just can't handle it..." I trailed off then, knowing that me talking more would only lead to Claire asking more and more questions. Little did I know Claire would ask them anyway.  
"What happened?", she asked softly, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.  
I turned my head away, not wanting to answer, but did it anyway. I felt as though I had to because Claire had told me her story as well, no matter how much it would hurt me. Besides, maybe it was good to finally talk to someone about it?  
"My sister died two months ago." My voice sounded shaky and raw, as if I was on the verge of crying. Which was exactly the case. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat back down and told Claire everything. While the tears streamed down my face, she wordlessly sat in front of me, and listened to my story. When I was done, she simply got up and gave me a big, comforting hug. I suddenly realized I had missed this. For the past two months I'd had to deal with the situation alone, without any help from my parents. Not once had they pulled me into a hug, saying stupid things like "It'll be okay", even though deep down they knew things would never be okay anymore. Not after what had happened. But it still would've felt good to know someone was there to help me.  
"Everything will be alright," Claire whispered into my ear and squeezed me tightly before letting go and sitting back down onto her chair.  
"Please don't tell anyone," I sniffled while wiping my cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt. I might've been able to tell her, but that didn't mean I wanted to go through it again. Plus, I was pretty sure not everyone would act like Claire and look at me without pity. It seemed like I was still the same girl to Claire, no one to pity, just a normal girl with problems. It was nice to feel normal. At home things usually were so strange and in Texas they had been just as strange, maybe even stranger than here.  
As time went on, Claire grew tenser by the minute. She told me she had to go home soon.  
"You're not going home tonight," I replied simply. At her puzzled look I added, "You're staying here. Mom won't mind, I think."  
Claire frowned as she considered that option, her head tilted to one side.  
"I have to call my Mom, though," she said, a grimace stretching over her face.  
"Sure." I got up and searched for it, walking back into the kitchen after finding it in the living room.  
I decided to give her some privacy and went looking for my mother. She was locked up in her room and I had to knock several times to make her let me in. When she opened the door, the first thing I noticed were her red and puffy eyes. It seemed as if today was the day of crying for everyone.  
"Mom, Claire's staying here tonight," I declared, knowing she wouldn't object anyway, or hoping she wouldn't. To my relief, she didn't, simply nodding and shutting the door again. After I heard the quiet click of the lock, I sighed and walked down the stairs again and into the kitchen. There I found Claire sitting at the table, staring at the phone in her hand as if it smelled bad, her nose scrunched up in obvious disdain. When she heard me enter the room, she looked up, a small smile forming on her face.  
"Everything okay?", I asked, jerking my chin towards the phone that now sat in front of her on the table.  
"It was the answering machine, so I left a message. I don't think she'll listen to it anyway."

The evening ended really calm, much to my surprise, as Dad hadn't come home. He was probably staying at work all night, like he did so often. You'd never hear me complain about that, though. Somtimes it's nice to have a calm and uneventful evening.

**Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid chapter, I know. I just lost inspiration, I really don't know why. :( **

**Please review anyway, even if it's just to say that chapter was crap.  
**


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